Where Two is But One
by Aublanc
Summary: Weakened by his lack of believers, Jack collapses in the forest by Burgess. He's found by Pitch, who takes him in hopes of using Jack's powers for himself, but the Winter Spirit is too sickly to be of any use. Pitch was going to just let the boy die, yet something made him help Jack instead. He doesn't regret that decision.


For the kink meme prompt: _Jack becomes really weak and sick after everyone loses faith in him. Pitch finds Jack collapsed somewhere and takes him back to his lair. He quickly figures out that Jack will not be able to assist him, but he'll be damned if his plan fails and he's left down there alone. Time wears on and he occasionally speaks to Jack. Jack is still weak but desperate for comfort and so accepts it. Eventually Pitch lets Jack out and they become friends, then lovers._

* * *

When Pitch had found the boy all those years ago it had been in the forest next to Burgess. The winter spirit was sprawled out on the ground as if he were a lone snowflake, helpless to do anything but melt in the oppressive heat. Of course, he never changed from being that weak snowflake, but no longer was the boy alone. As strange as it would have seemed to him before this turn of events, Pitch now found companionship in the presence of another spirit. Admittedly, it had been something he had wanted for so long, something they had both wanted for so long, but had never been granted. It took the fall of the winter spirit to make it happen, but in the end neither would deny that this turn of events was far more welcoming than the expanse of sheer loneliness that had come before it.

At first, Pitch had only taken the boy in hopes of manipulating him and using Jack's powers to crush the Guardians once and for all. It had only taken a few days before Pitch realized that the spirit- cheeks flushed in fever, icy skin slowly melting, body too weak to even move -was not going to be of any use to him. So the Nightmare King abandoned the boy in the depths of his lair, no one but him knowing where Jack had gone. Not even the obnoxious Babyteeth, chirping and clattering within the rusting metal cages, had seen the boy who was trapped along with them in the Bogeyman's lair. It wasn't until after his own Nightmares had chased him back under the rickety bed frame and sealed off the entrance that Pitch once again thought of the spirit he now housed.

Truly it was a wonder Jack hadn't withered away during the time it took for all of Pitch's glorious plans to come to a sand filled end. He had not moved an inch since Pitch had last seen him, and as the snow in the room had begun to melt so did Jack. His hair became perpetually slick with water; his fingers began to slowly lose form. For a moment Pitch had debated just leaving the spirit to die, for surely no one would miss the annoying thing, but at that very moment Jack weakly opened his eyes, gazing at the Nightmare King with glossy orbs. And while Pitch hadn't known what the feeling was at the time, the idea of finally not being alone snuck into his mind. Before he could reconsider, he swept Jack out of the decay of his prison. The swinging cage Pitch had put the spirit in after wasn't really an improvement, but here Pitch could keep an eye on him: both to prevent Jack's condition from worsening and to remind himself that he was not alone inside the lair that had also become his jail.

It took weeks of careful administration by Pitch- for the man honestly didn't have anything better to do, too weak himself to properly command his own creations -for Jack to be well enough to even talk. Even then he could only manage a few minutes of actual conversation before succumbing once again to exhaustion. Those few bits of conversation they did manage, however, became something they both ended up looking forwards too despite the situation of their relationship. Jack, who had always desired a friend, someone to actually look at him and acknowledge him, was desperate enough for that companionship that he forgave Pitch for keeping him locked up. And Pitch found it was nice to have someone all to himself, to have that reassurance that at least someone believed in him. The harsh reminder of his invisibility after his humiliating defeat, children who had once fled from his shadows turning around and completely ignoring his presence, was enough to prompt him into seeking the assurance of blue eyes.

Eventually months turned into years and the mutual bond between the Nightmare King and his fallen Spirit of Winter morphed. Jack had long since been let out of his cage, both spirits well aware that even if the boy had the power to flee he would not. Still Jack slept a lot, not awake for more than a few hours each day. The lair had to be kept cold in order to keep him from getting feverish and start melting. On the summer days when even that wasn't enough, Pitch would muster up the dredges of his power to bring Jack to the blistering frost of Antarctica. But despite the hardships, they managed, for there was nothing either of them could do to remedy the situation. Pitch was not an expert in being believed in, and even if he had a plan Jack was far too frail to create the storms and snowball fights he once had.

No. In the end they had only each other. It was no wonder then that they ended up as more than mere friends. Two lonely souls became one, and no longer could anyone tell where the cold ended and the dark began. Nothing needed to be proved, no soft lies needed to be whispered. Pitch would always look after Jack, and Jack would always be there for Pitch. It was what it was.

It was during one of the few trips that the two took outside of the comfort of their home- for no longer would either consider it a prison as long as the other was also there -that they finally met the Guardians once again. Neither had really considered the fact that the Guardians didn't actually know what had happened to Jack. Pitch knew that they had thought the boy had run off in disgrace after he 'betrayed' them, but after being around the near lifeless Jack for so long, seeing the once energized spirit confined mainly to a bed didn't seem strange. Sad, yes, but not strange. To the Guardians however, it was a brutal slap of reality.

They had cornered Pitch in Rome, where he had brought Jack to allow the boy to get some fresh air and explore the grand catacombs and cathedrals. The Guardian's angry, accusing shouts had died in their throats when they finally realized that the sickly, emaciated figure in the Nightmare King's arms was the once powerful 'Jokul Frosti'. Had Jack more energy, he would have been furious at them. They had turned on him for a mere suspicion, and never once did they think to check on the wayward winter spirit once the threat was gone. But as it was, he did nothing more than tighten his grip on the shoulder of Pitch's cloak and rasp out the story of what had befallen him. The guilt and shame in the Guardian's eyes was naught but a hollow victory.

Bunnymund, surprisingly, was the first to offer his help. Jack later said it was probably because he felt the most guilt out of all of them, for it had been Bunny that reacted the most negatively, nearly punching Jack in his emotional turmoil. Sandman quickly followed with his own pledge of support, for he never truly understood why the young spirit had left, and now it was apparent that the stories his colleagues told him were inaccurate. Eventually the other two also decided to contribute and in no time the four Guardians were working to try and make believers for someone other than their own knit group.

But in the end it hadn't mattered, for no matter what they tried they could not get anyone to believe in the spirit that was Jack Frost. Jack could not make anyone believe in him with three hundred years of snowballs and fun time, so why did any of them truly think that four Guardians who didn't really understand children could?

Tired of the simpering and useless apologies of the Guardians, Jack told them what's done is done. They had made a mistake, and it was too late for anyone to fix it. All he wanted now was to be left alone. He no longer had to power to make a nuisance of himself by disrupting their holidays- this point in particular making Bunny wince -and Pitch no longer had any desire to terrorize children- bring them fear, yes. But he would no longer create fear for the sake of causing suffering -so the Guardians had no reason to bother the two spirits anymore. If they wanted to make amends for their failures, then the least they could do was make sure that Jack was able to live his half-life in comfort. All he wanted was to be able to enjoy the company of the Bogeyman. If the other spirits did not want them, then they should at least be able to find comfort in one another.

And find comfort they did. For while neither had any believers, and both had to bear the weakness that crippled Jack, everything was okay. They didn't need anything else. Strange as it was, a snowflake had found comfort in a jaded nightmare. From then on, the names of these two spirits, just like the pair themselves, would never be spoken far apart. For them, everything was always,

"Pitch Black and Jack Frost, too."


End file.
